All weekend, the number 1 album on Amazon’s best selling physical CDs is by Beyonce? Blake Shelton? The “Hamilton” Broadway album? Prince, maybe?

Uh, no.

It’s The Monkees “Good Times” on Rhino. The Monkees, 50 years old this year. A new album by Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith with a rare track by Davy Jones written by Neil Diamond. The album is produced by Fountain of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger and features new and unearthed songs.

Besides Diamond the songs are by other Monkee writers from back in the day– Carole King & Gerry Goffin, Harry Nilsson and Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart. Then Schlesinger added in present day rock songwriters like Rivers Cuomo, Andy Partridge, Ben Gibbard, Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller.

The weird thing is, Rhino released this and they are not usually a label for new music. Their Cyndi Lauper country album is struggling, which is a surprise. But the Monkees touch a button in the minds of Amazon-aged fans. Amazon skews much older than iTunes, and much whiter. Rhino may have caught lightning in a bottle with this one.

“Good Times!” is doing well enough by the way on iTunes as a download, around number 20.

What a turn of events! Last July Micky Dolenz was doing his one man show at 54Below in New York and this album wasn’t even a gleam in his eye. I guess “I’m a Believer” does come true!

Author

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.